


Of Galaxies and Black Holes

by ButtersMeUp



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Alien Biology, Awkward Romance, Fear of Discovery, First Kiss, First Time, Hand Jobs, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 11:25:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13523250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButtersMeUp/pseuds/ButtersMeUp
Summary: "Why do your eyes... do that?"Ryder blinked said eyes."Specifically, the black parts," said Jaal. "They grow... very large. When you talk to me."





	Of Galaxies and Black Holes

**Author's Note:**

> This was written ages ago, before the game was updated to include a Jaal/Male Ryder romance option. It doesn't really go anywhere, it was just one of the many scenes rolling around my head at the time. I love how awkward these two are.
> 
> Also, I take great liberties with Angaran physiology. Which means I pulled it all out of my ass. Enjoy!

“Why do your eyes… do that?”

Ryder blinked said eyes, straightening up from where he’d been leaning on the kitchen counter and grabbing his mug from the coffee machine.

“My eyes?” he asked with a raised eyebrow, looking around for the sugar.

“Specifically, the black parts,” said Jaal, leaning a hip against the counter and tilting his head to keep an eye on Ryder’s face. “They grow… very large. When you talk to me.”

Ryder couldn’t stop it, he felt his face light up bright red. He turned away, reaching for the powdered milk in the cupboard above him. “You mean my pupils?” he dodged.

Jaal’s head rose as he processed the information. “So that is what you call them. We have no word for this in Angaran.”

“Really?” Ryder stirred his coffee. “It usually happens so we can see in the dark better. You don’t need that?”

Jaal looked thoughtful. “I have not seen it before. I wonder if it might be connected to our need for sunlight.”

“How so?”

“Well, our eyes can…” He worried his lip, casting around for the word. “… _see_ heat.”

Ryder blinked. “You’re kidding.”

“No!” Jaal chuckled. “It makes finding sources of energy easier. If they are warm, then they also often project the energy we need to survive.” At Ryder’s nonplussed expression, he continued. “It is useful for other things as well.” He shifted, giving Ryder a wry look. “…You find it difficult to tell Angara apart sometimes, yes?”

“What?” Ryder began. “No way! I…” But from the look on Jaal’s face, Ryder’s guilty expression had betrayed him. He pursed his lips, trying not to laugh self-consciously. “Okay, yeah. It’s a little hard.”

Jaal smiled. “See the… speckles? On my face?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Heat points. For lack of a better word. They create distinct patterns. Each pattern is unique. Angara can see them and interpret them.”

Ryder couldn’t help it. “You’re fucking with me,” he said, disbelieving.

Jaal laughed out loud at that, a deep, rich sound. “I really, _really_ am not.”

“Wow.” Ryder blinked hard at his coffee, still processing the information. “That’s freaking amazing. Does Lexi know?”

Jaal smiled coyly. “Not yet.”

“Good, don’t tell her, or she’ll start trying to take shavings of your eyes or something.” Ryder sipped at his coffee as the Angara chuckled under his breath. “You know, it’s amazing to me that the Angara look so humanoid whilst being so different physiologically. You guys look more human than some of the species in the Milky Way.”

“ _Humanoid_ …” Jaal repeated, testing the word on his tongue.

“Another new word?”

Jaal smiled. “I’m assuming it comes from ‘human’? _That_ was a new word to me a few weeks ago as well.”

Ryder felt his cheeks redden again, but not so drastically as before. “Oh, right.”

Jaal’s eyes were still locked on his face, still patiently expectant. “So. Your pupils _usually_ expand when in the dark,” he said slowly. “But it is quite bright here…” He trailed off, sounding innocently curious. The blush had refused to move from Ryder’s face, and in his panic, he found himself awkwardly changing of subject.

“I thought you didn’t like biology?”

“It is… different when one encounters something so dissimilar from oneself.”

Ryder cocked his head. “So what do you think of humans? So far?”

Jaal’s brow creased a little. “…Physically? Morally?”

“Anything.”

The Angara made a sucking noise with his lips, lost in thought again. “You are small. And brightly coloured. You have… an urgency about you.”

“An urgency?” Ryder echoed, eyebrows raising. “How do you mean?”

“You speak… very fast. Sometimes I worry I won’t be able to keep up with my translator,” he chuckled.

“Should I speak… slower?” Ryder asked, eyebrows hiking up in confusion. This drew a deeper laugh from the Angara.

“No! No, not at all. I find it charming. It helps me… what is the phrase?” His brows furrowed in consternation, before his eyes lit up like lightbulbs. “‘Get my ass into gear’! That’s right.”

Ryder tried to hold onto it, for a moment at least, but he quickly lost the battle and dissolved into laughter, hunching over his coffee cup and biting his lip. Jaal was chuckling too, and when Ryder glanced over he saw the Angara’s dark eyes flitting across his face, soaking up details. Ryder’s cheeks, only just freshly recovered, turned a deep pink again. It seemed to be becoming a habit.

As their laughter subsided, Jaal opened his mouth before Ryder had a chance to cut in.

“You know you never answered my question, Ryder.”

Ryder pressed his lips together, purposefully staring off at a corner of the ceiling and taking a swig of his coffee. He was still smiling though. “What question’s that?”

“Your… ‘pupils’. They are very wide, and very dark.”

“What, right now?” he asked, even as he kept his eyes locked on his coffee.

Jaal shifted closer. “ _Yes_ , right now.”

Ryder felt that familiar cold sweat, the one that spread across his skin when he was equal parts terrified and eager to speak. He was suddenly very aware of his heartbeat, and prayed the Angara didn’t have the sense of hearing necessary to pick up on it.

“Er… Dilated pupils are usually a sign of… affection, in humans," he stuttered out. He couldn’t quite bring himself to make eye contact with his friend, as if he were trying to keep the secret even as it spilled from his mouth.

“Ah, affection. Is this how you indicate closeness in lieu of physical contact?” Jaal paused, eyes momentarily flicking to the counter top in confusion. “But you still hug and touch each other, yes?”

Ryder relaxed slightly. Trust the Angara to get distracted by trying to dissect the matter. “It’s not really a conscious thing. Lots of people wouldn’t even notice it. And yeah, hugging and touching are a thing.”

“Ah, so it is also a physiological response to emotion. Fascinating.” A small smile wormed its way onto Jaal’s mouth. “Well, as my pupils cannot ‘dilate’,” he reached out, placing his hand on the arm holding Ryder’s coffee, almost causing him to spill it. “Let me say aloud that I share your affection, Ryder!”

The Angara’s eyes were almost shut with the force of his smile. As his face lit up red for the fourth time in a row Ryder smiled weakly in return, the hairs on his arm standing on end.

\---

He was attracted to Jaal, of course.

How could he not be? All the touching, all the heartfelt stories. When he’d first joined them on the Tempest, Ryder wasn’t sure what to make of him. He was quiet and watchful and hesitant. Then the dam had broken and the Angara turned into a ceaseless torrent of warmth.

Winning Jaal’s trust had been like opening up an odd, purple oyster shell to find the dazzling pearl on the inside. At least, he imagined so. Oysters weren’t super common on the Citadel, what with the lack of ocean.

The point was, Jaal was overt with his emotions. He’d have to be a monster not to connect with the guy after going through the exaltation facility with him. Jaal had screamed and cried and begged him to help him save his people. And then what does he want to talk about afterwards? Ryder’s family. He was thoughtful and kind – absurdly so.

Ryder had fallen over the proverbial precipice before he could even think to dig his heels in.

But Jaal was… infuriatingly hard to read. Sure, he lit up like a heat lamp whenever Ryder spoke to him, but he did that around Liam, around Peebee, even around Drack. He was warm to most everyone.

Ryder couldn’t for the life of him work out if all the little touches Jaal was so fond of were regular Angaran friendliness or something more. If the soft words and eye contact were platonic or a ‘come hither’ move.

He’d said as much to Gil one night, as they sat on the floor staring up at the Tempest’s core, passing between them a bottle of something alcoholic that Vetra had squirreled up.

Gil paused, rolling his eyes in what could easily be misread as indifference if Ryder wasn’t used to Gil’s thinking face. He took another draft from the bottle while Gil did so, enjoying the sharp burn in his throat. Whatever this was, it was strong.

“I don’t really know what to say,” Gil drawled, taking the bottle from Ryder. “I mean, he’s the only one who’s come close to beating me at poker.” He sent him a wry smile. “For a guy who talks about how emotional he is all the time, he’s got a pretty solid bluff.”

“Ugh.” Ryder let his head fall back against the wall with a _thunk_. “ _Asshole_.”

“Hey!” Gil grunted, elbowing him in his side. “Was that directed at me or him?”

“…Both of you,” he sulked, but sent the other man a sidelong glance and smiled tiredly. “He’s just so… _There for me_. For everyone. He’s like a…” He paused, reaching out to grasp ineffectually at the air before him, lost for words.

“Counsellor?”

“A rock.” He let his hands fall between his knees. “A big, warm, purple… rock.”

“Wooow, you’re really selling this,” Gil droned, giggling when Ryder poked him in the side. “Nah, man, I get it. He’s the perfect gentleman. He _listens_. And then _you_ turn into butter.”

Ryder let out a groan of frustration and covered his face with his hands. “I’m obvious, aren’t I?”

“Yep. Everyone on this ship probably knows except for Jaal himself.”

“Typical.”

“You could tell him?”

Ryder peeked out between his fingers, giving Gil an incredulous look. “You’re kidding, right? Doing that would imply that I actually possess communication skills.”

Gil snorted, rolling his eyes for real this time. “You’re an idiot. Go to bed, dream about your beau and think about this when you’re sober.”

“One more sip,” he wheedled, prying the bottle from Gil’s grasp. “How’s Jill anyway?”

Gil laughed darkly, sitting up straighter and leaning in conspiratorially. “Dude, she is clucky _as_. I don’t think she even realises it yet, but she starts glowing whenever she talks about her work. And she was telling me the stupidest story yesterday…”

\---

His talk with Gil hadn’t helped much, and Vetra was giving him veiled looks whenever he passed her in the corridor. He wasn’t sure if it was a subtle kick up the ass or if she was mad at him for drinking all her liquor, so he grinned weakly, put his head down and hurried off whenever they made eye contact.

He didn’t avoid Jaal per se, but he did decide he needed a little distance from the whole thing for a little while, and so forced himself not to visit the Angara in his room _quite_ so often. Gil scoffed when he admitted this, saying that it was too late for that.

Ryder refused to believe him until Jaal emailed asking to see him in the tech lab, and Ryder went scurrying off to meet him like a lovesick puppy.

The Angara was already turning towards him when he arrived, alerted by the sound of the door sliding open. He gestured Ryder over with a wave of his hand.

He stepped forward and slipped into the space beside Jaal at the workbench, willing his heart to slow down a little. “Whatcha got there?” he asked, nonchalantly.

Jaal briefly flicked his eyes towards him, and stepped away slightly so Ryder could see what lay on the bench. It was a pair of glasses. At least, that’s what it looked like at first glance. But on closer inspection, Ryder realised there was no glass present. It was a holographic overlay, similar to what Vetra or Jaal himself had clipped around their heads. The display glowed blue, standing out brightly against the orange lights of the machines surrounding them.

“What does it do?” Ryder asked, picking up the machine at Jaal’s encouraging nod.

“I was telling you about Angaran eyes before, wasn’t I?” Ryder looked up, his own eyes wide with astonishment.

“No…”

Jaal smiled a little, looking pleased. “I have… tinkered with our solar lamps before. With a little understanding of the electromagnetic waves they emanate and that we then receive…”

“This lets you see like an Angara does?!”

Jaal nodded, but cut in before Ryder could say anything more. “It is not complete, however. I will need some extra parts.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Probably from… Kadara.”

“That’s fine,” Ryder said, still inspecting the display with undisguised excitement. “We’ll pick it up next time we drop in to annoy Sloane.”

Jaal snorted softly, shaking his head. “You are… so very ridiculous, Ryder.”

Ryder tore his gaze away from the object to look at the Angara. “Jaal, this is amazing! I really wanna try it out, man.”

Jaal stepped forward then, gently taking the machine out of Ryder’s hands and placing it back on the benchtop away from them. When the Angara continued to move closer, Ryder moved to accommodate him, quickly feeling his ass pressing up against the adjacent bench. Wedged in the ninety-degree angle between the two surfaces, he blinked with confusion as his friend leaned even closer, only stopping when there was less than half a foot of space between them.

“Uh, Jaal?”

His heart was beating even faster now, somewhere up near his throat, and the intent look in the Angara’s eyes wasn’t helping any.

But he’d stopped, keeping that small distance between himself and Ryder, and his eyes were flicking over Ryder’s face again, as if something had given him pause.

“Why do you wear all this paint?” he asked suddenly. He tilted his head a little. “On your eyes and mouth. I’m sure paint is not the correct word, but…”

Ryder flashed a grin, pulling himself up onto the counter to give himself some breathing room. He found it harder to think with the Angara pressed in so close. “Would you believe me if I said it was tattooed into my skin?” he quipped, trying to dislodge the flutter in his chest with a practised drawl.

Jaal’s lip curled. “Maybe if you hadn’t said it like that. And if I hadn’t seen you bare-faced on your way to the shower yesterday.”

Ryder grinned, looking up over Jaal’s shoulder in search of some excuse. “Uhhh, I like to stand out?”

The Angara shifted forward incrementally, eyes half-lidded. “Ryder, you have _green_ hair.”

Ryder giggled just this side of hysterically at the growing proximity. He was about to say something about green hair not being enough when you bunked with a krogan who wore bones for jewellery, but was stopped by a sudden pressure against his mouth.

He looked down, almost cross-eyed, to find Jaal’s soft, purple thumb pressed gently against his upper lip, caressing the thick layer of black gloss that coated it.

The digit left him all too quickly, Jaal inspecting the dark residue that rubbed off on him with fascination. “I didn’t expect it to come off so easily.”

“Mm, it’s not exactly designed to withstand daring vault escapes. They probably shouldn’t put that on the ads though,” Ryder murmured nonsensically, staring at the Angara with wide eyes.

Jaal leaned in, holding his smudged finger up between them as evidence. “Why?”

The ad thing? No, he was still asking why he wore the make-up. Honestly, putting it on had become so ingrained in him that it almost _did_ feel like a tattoo, but the real reason…

“It’s war paint,” he said dimly, eyes locked on the Angara’s glistening finger. “I put it on, I can take on the world.”

“So even the Pathfinder must draw strength from somewhere,” Jaal mused, his eyes dancing over Ryder’s face again. With his heart hammering in his chest and mild panic blooming in his vision, Ryder couldn’t quite decipher the look on the alien’s face, but he wasn’t left to ponder for too long. “They’re doing it again,” Jaal said softly, moving in closer as if he were a scientist inspecting a petri dish. “…Your eyes.”

Ryder smiled, almost incredulously. Of course the Angara would bring that up again. Now. When he was close enough that Ryder could feel the heat radiating off him. “Uh-huh,” he managed haltingly.

Jaal bit his lip, amusement rolling off him. “Are you… attracted to me, Ryder?”

Ryder’s heart skipped, but he drew a new sort of confidence from the way Jaal stayed close, even leaned in slightly. “Are _you_ attracted to _me_?” he countered, knowing his own answer was obvious.

The Angara drank him in again, considering. “I wouldn’t usually be attracted to males amongst my own people, but…” He reached up with his clean hand. “But you humans are so soft…”

His fingers scraped audibly against the stubble on Ryder’s cheek, and the human snorted with laughter. “You literally could not have picked a worse spot to demonstrate your point.”

Jaal’s lips pressed together into a wobbly line as he tried to hold in his own laughter, but it didn’t last for long. Ryder’s hands came up instinctively to wrap around Jaal’s arms as they snickered, foreheads gently bumping together. He felt a tiny shock as a hand landed on his waist, and then the other on his shoulder.

“Maybe if you remembered to shave once in a while,” Jaal prodded, eyes focusing on Ryder’s.

“Hey, I have impeccable hygiene.”

“Once Cora yells at you.”

Ryder opened his mouth to say… something, but fell silent when his own blown out eyes met Jaal’s. The Angara’s eyes were dark and steady, the purple starbursts glittering in the light of the machines surrounding them. The thin, dark, _cat-like_ pupil was constant, but he felt lost in it all the same. Looking into them wasn’t so unlike laying eyes on Andromeda for the first time. Ryder’s breath stilled.

And then his vision was full of purple and he felt the soft press of Jaal’s lips on his own.

It was exceedingly gentle at first, close-lipped and chaste. Ryder’s heart continued to stammer out a staccato beat as he registered the feeling of Jaal’s thin lips pushing against his. They were slightly wet, as if they’d just been licked moments before, and smooth in a way that human lips could never be. But they moved with confidence, applying pressure and withdrawing again in a practised rhythm. Kissing was somewhat universal then.

Ryder was already reciprocating by the time one of Jaal’s hands curled around the side of his neck to draw him closer, and he let his mouth fall open slightly at the gentle touch. They leaned into each other, chests touching, and Ryder gripped the benchtop for balance.

He was the first to send out his tongue on a brief exploration. He lapped at the Angara’s slightly parted lips, bringing his own hand up to cup the thick, arched cords of his neck. He didn’t have long to dwell on the inexplicable warmth of the Angara’s neck, or the way it shivered slightly under his touch, as he was pulled suddenly by a steady hand at his hip, sliding him closer across the benchtop until they were pressed flush together from neck to thigh.

And then Jaal’s other hand was guiding his neck again, and Ryder felt the first swipe of the Angara’s tongue against his. It was hesitant at first, despite the bold grasp of his hands only moments before. It reached out only slightly, enough for Ryder to register how pointed it was, before snatching away again. Ryder smoothed his thumb over the Angara’s neck, tilting his head just enough to get their noses out of the way (which was made easier by how small Jaal’s was) before probing again with his own tongue.

The movement was reciprocated this time, and Ryder was relieved to find they were not so different in this department. Jaal’s tongue was similar in length and texture, if a little bit narrower than Ryder’s. It was probably also purple, but Ryder didn’t feel like pausing the proceedings to check.

They stayed like that for a while, kissing languidly, eyes closed, with Jaal’s hand drifting up to caress the small of Ryders back and his neck, while Ryder copied the patterns onto Jaal’s own back.

But it was when the Angara’s hand moved lazily down to stroke a line down his thigh that Ryder became acutely aware of the effect all this was having on him. Jaal was also becoming more bold, his tongue curling around Ryder’s and stroking out a rhythm, showing off far more flexibility than should be allowed, by human standards at least.

He couldn’t help it, his mind shot to images of that tongue in more compromising positions: licking a trail down the sensitive skin of his side, up his inner thigh, circling his…

Oh he was definitely feeling the effects now. What was once a deniable swelling was now a full-fledged erection, and he knew the Angara had felt it stir against his stomach by the slight chirp of surprise that sounded against his lips.

“Pathfinder, you have a vidcon meeting scheduled in five minutes.”

SAM’s neutral voice cut the near-silence of the room in two, causing Ryder to jump back from his partner in surprise.

“Wh—? SAM? Five minutes?!” He blinked rapidly, trying to shake himself from the comfortable stupor he’d fallen into. “Why didn’t you mention it earlier?”

“I did not wish to interrupt,” said SAM, and if he didn’t know better, he’d almost think the AI was _teasing_ him.

Ryder made to pull away, his hands landing lightly on Jaal’s upper arms and beginning to push, but the Angara’s grip tightened.

“Wait,” said Jaal. “What was that? Your body, it—“

Ryder blushed, embarrassment creeping as he thought of the crew members outside, of the AI in his head that he’d all but forgotten about until now. “Uhhh. It’s, uh. My…”

He locked eyes with the Angara, trying to communicate what he meant without actually having to say it.

And he felt his heart skip a little as he realised he didn’t have to explain. Jaal was looking him up and down with intense interest, one hand drifting haltingly down Ryder’s stomach. His heart raced. He bit his lip despite himself, half of his brain still yelling at him to disentangle himself and get ready for the meeting. But Jaal’s thumb was now brushing carefully and deliberately over his erection through the cloth of his sweatpants, sending a shiver through his body.

The bulge in his pants stirred once again, and Ryder was simultaneously embarrassed and endeared by the Angara’s soft intake of breath at the motion. Jaal’s forehead knocked against his, and Ryder looked up from staring at the Angara’s hand between them to find he was being stared at.

“It’s very… responsive,” Jaal murmured, a curious smile pulling at his lips.

Ryder puffed out a laugh. “Messy too.”

Jaal’s mouth twitched at that, and he swept his thumb over the head through the fabric. Ryder closed his eyes, breathing out heavily.

“We’ll keep these on then,” the Angara whispered, and kissed him again.

Ryder moaned as Jaal stroked him more confidently through his trousers. They didn’t have much give to them, but the Angara’s fingers were quick to find an angle, managing to rub a fair way down Ryder’s length, teasing his balls before they wended their way back up to the tip.

Ryder was breathing heavily when SAM’s voice drifted into the air between them again.

“Ryder, Cora is calling you.”

He sighed with frustration, thrusting forward against Jaal’s hand even as he strained his ears to hear the voices outside. They were audible, if only faintly over the thrumming of blood in his ears.

“L-lock the door, SAM,” he managed, as Jaal’s other hand pressed into the small of his back to draw him flush against him again.

“Yes, Pathfinder. I suggest you hurry.”

Ryder wrapped his arms around the Angara, rutting against his hand as they kissed.

The voices outside seemed to be getting louder, but he could feel his climax growing inside him. He shut his eyes and knocked his forehead against the Angara’s once again.

“A-almost,” he gasped, and he felt Jaal’s chest heave against his.

“Ryder, where the hell are you?!” Cora’s voice rang out, and with one final squeeze of Jaal’s hand around him, Ryder came in his trousers.

He groaned long and low, feeling his orgasm roll through him as he dropped his head to nuzzle into the Angara’s shoulder. He could hear Jaal’s heartbeat, thumping almost in time with his own as they both breathed heavily.  

They clutched at each other, and as his breathing began to steady, he looked up at the Angara again. “Do you want me to…? I should…”

“Ryder.” SAM’s voice again, sounding as impatient as an AI could manage.

“I think that you are wanted elsewhere,” Jaal chuckled, biting his lip.

“Ryder!”

At the sound of Cora’s now frustrated yelling, Ryder levelled a panicky smile at the Angara. “Maybe we can… finish this later?” he murmured, sliding off the bench and pressing close.

A kiss to his forehead, and a mutter of agreement, and Ryder was making for the door, one hand loosely covering his front as he felt the uncomfortable stickiness begin to set in.

The door, unlocked by SAM, slid open with a horrifying finality, leaving Ryder face-to-face with a roomful of his crew, spearheaded by an irritated Cora.

“U-uhh. Just… gimme a minute,” he managed to stutter around an embarrassed grin, and turned on his heel, ducking down the hallway towards his room.

He caught a glimpse of Gil on the way, his eyes wide and his mouth forming a perfect ‘o’ of surprise, before the engineer’s stifled laughter rang out amongst the murmurs of the others. Ryder felt his chest flutter with embarrassment, before the stirring turned to laughter as well, making his shoulders shake as he swept down the ladder and out of sight.

 


End file.
